1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing technique for editing a template used to designate functions to be executed by a printing apparatus upon printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, when the types of data such as characters, tables, images, and the like are different, the structures for defining data, and edit operations for data are different. For this reason, different application programs are prepared in correspondence with the types of data.
The user who uses data selectively uses applications according to the types of data like a text processing program upon editing characters, a spreadsheet program upon editing tables, and an image edit program upon editing images.
However, documents to be created by the user are not configured by only one type of data such as only characters, only tables, or only images, but they are often configured by a plurality of types of data such as characters and tables, characters and images, and so forth.
For this reason, upon creating a document including such plurality of types of data, conventionally, the user prints respective data using print functions of various applications, and combines the printed materials in a desired order, so as to obtain such a document.
Alternatively, the user obtains such a document using an integrated application (for example, Office suite) which includes various applications and configures one document by combining data generated by these applications. This is because the user can easily combine data generated by respective applications into one document using the integrated application.
The conventional integrated application comprises a template function which allows the user to register in advance, as a template, designations associated with functions to be executed by a printing apparatus (designations associated with print settings) upon printing edited document data. As the designations associated with print settings that can be registered using the template function, for example, a page layout, output paper, single-sided/double-sided/bookbinding, finishing method (punch, staple), and the like are prepared.
For this reason, even when new document data is created, the user can easily make designations associated with the print settings of that document data by selecting only a desired one of templates of some patterns, which are registered in advance, using the template function.
Furthermore, since the template can be converted into a file, and the converted file can be saved, the user can create a new template or can change the existing template.
Moreover, the template function comprises an import/export function. With this function, the user can export or import a template to or from another PC.
In addition, a method of saving designations associated with print settings of document data, the edit processing of which is in progress, as a template intact in association with the template function has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-252665). Using this method, operability upon creating a template can be improved.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-26867 discloses a technique which allows an information processing apparatus to dynamically change the configuration window of a printing apparatus in a printer driver based on acquired configuration information of the printing apparatus.
However, in case of the conventional template function, when the function of the printing apparatus is added, the user needs to execute the edit operation of the template on the integrated application while recognizing the added function.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-26867 does not disclose any technique for generating the aforementioned template using the acquired configuration information.
In this way, upon changing the functions of the printing apparatus, since the conventional template function requires the user to execute many operations to cope with such change, the operation load is heavy.